About Me And Why I Am A Coach Holiday Expert
1. About Me – My Coach Holiday Expert Experience
OK let’s start with some facts and figures about my professional travel experience.
- Regular business travel to Denmark and also trips to Germany and Sweden
- Extensive travel around the UK for 6 years and away for a minimum of 6 months per year
- Lived for one season in Lake Garda and another in Lake Como with week long stays of guests from the UK. Lake Garda tours included weekly visits to the Dolomites, Verona, Venice, Lake Tour and Limone. Lake Como tours included weekly visits to Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano, Lake Tour, Milan and Bellagio.
- Spent a season working as a hotel representative in Lake Garda covering the Veneto region. This involved doing all the health and safety checks for hotels as well as meeting and greeting guests including from the Orient Express.
- Taken tours all over the world on behalf of various coach holiday companies including;
- German Christmas markets – Cologne, Trier, Rhine, Moselle, Dresden
- Special events tours including Wimbledon, Formula One, Golf Tours, Robbie Williams and other concerts
- Private group tours including Cambridge Alumni tour
- Multiple trips (over 5) to China including cruising the Yangtse gorge before and after flooding, Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Xian, 5 day cruise along the Yangtse.
- Multiple trips (over 5) to Australia including Perth, Darwin, Cairns, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Uluru. Including wildflowers tour, driving down the East Coast from Cairns to Sydney and multiple Best of Australia tours.
- Multiple trips (over 5) to the Azores including stays on Sao Miguel, Faial and Terceira with multiple visits to Pico Island.
- St Petersburg to Moscow cruise with 135 British guests.
- Tour to Baltic States including Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Norway and Estonia
- Multiple tours to Paris including Paris city tours (by me)
- Multiple tours to London including London city tours (by me), theatre breaks, New Year’s trips, Windsor and Windsor castle
- Multiple tours of the UK with American guests including tours and commentary throughout (by me) and stays in Bath, Caernarfon, York, the Lake District and Edinburgh
- Multiple Highland Railway tours (over 20)
- Tours of Scotland and England including short break trips, two week in depth tours of Scotland
- Multiple tours to Lewis, Harris, Isle of Skye and Shetland
Since I was 16 I have spent 13.5 years travelling – that’s 13.5 years of my life so far spent in hotels!
2. About Me – Travel History
In the 1970s I was lucky enough to enjoy long haul holidays and had some great experiences, not least having a birthday cake with candles presented to me on a British Airways flight to America (that was when you could smoke on a plane!).
I was also a member of the British Airways Junior Jet Club, which not only kept kids entertained on flights but also arranged lots of activities and trips in the UK too.
My first job involved working for a Danish company which meant there were lots of trips across to the factory in Denmark including driving across to Denmark when I was 17.
Later I moved into travel full time thanks to my first partner who was a coach driver and introduced me to the life, and it’s something I have done ever sense.
Travel really is my passion and I now enjoy solo travel. My bucket list is ever expanding!
3. About Me – What It’s Like Travelling for Work
Most of my travel has been for work purposes, initially travelling to events and exhibitions all over the UK and Europe and later as a Tour Manager.
It is a different type of travel to leisure travel.
Most of my travelling has been done leading a group of holidaymakers, mainly British, overseas and latterly leading groups of US guests around the UK.
This makes it a different experience too.
I am often busy when away sorting out problems, confirming flights, getting supplies and in the old days before WiFi was in hotels you would often find me at an internet cafe trying to catch up on emails and messages related to the tour.
The photo above is me at Lake Lugano when I was based in Lake Como. We used to visit weekly and it was always a nice place to spend the day. It’s quite an old photo and was during the time when I was too scared to fly!
When travelling with groups I never stray too far away from the vicinity of the hotel we are staying in, just to make sure I am on hand in case something is needed.
Often I am working with a coach driver which can add another spin on the work experience.
7. About Me – My Travel Style
- Hotel rather than hostel.
- Independent hotel rather than a chain, generally in nice location or with good transport connection.
- Love a free upgrade and a great room.
- Enjoy an in room buffet every now and again, alongwith in room takeaway. Although I always clear up and put all the rubbish in a bag so housekeeping don’t have to deal with it!
- Enjoy exploring like a local using local transport – even though it often causes lots of reroutes, or unexpected walks because I’ve got off in the wrong place
- Love trying out some words in a new language, but often end up with international sign language i.e. acting things out.
- Museums are a favourite travel activity – love learning.
- Trying local flavours is a must when travelling, even though sometimes as a vegetarian that can be a bit challenging. Really enjoy exploring local markets and supermarkets to see what people eat.
- Less is more when packing. Can easily stay 5 -7 nights with a case that is hand luggage size for the airplane, saving all the hassle of checking in.
- Don’t like flying so upgrading the airport experience by using a lounge, speeding through security and paperless travel is a must. Do like an airport bookshop though!
- It’s got to be an aisle seat, and generally close to emergency exit or sometimes at the back of the plane. However, that can sometimes mean you just have a queue for the toilet beside you all the time.
- Think seat etiquette should be explained on flights – a man should not assume he has the right to the armrest and I will reclaim my armrest space to make the point if I have to. Likewise there is no need to recline a seat on a short flight, anyone who does it just being a knob.
- Not sure what the fixation with selfies actually is. I want a picture of the view – I know what I look like and I know I was there. Sometimes it feels like people are just there to take a selfie rather than experience the place. Taking selfies at places such as Auscwhitz and the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin should just be banned.
- All hotel doors should have door closers fitted by law, plus anyone that stands in the corridor having a loud conversation late at night or early in the morning should be escorted off the premises immediately.
9. About Me – Where You Can Find Me
Here’s where you can find me online;
Want to get in touch? Here are my contact details